STEM @ HOME: three cardboard box art edventures

Every month, we get a medical supply delivery of no less than 10 cardboard boxes (it used to be 18). My kids love ‘Pharmaquip’ day as they call it. Our supply delivery man is revered as much as the Ice Cream Truck driver.

Why do they love it? Because it’s also “Build a Fort” day. Or “Build a City” day. Or “Knock over boxes with a ball day.” Or {Insert Activity Here} day — until Mom can’t stand the mess in the playroom and we collapse the boxes for recycling. We did have a pretty cardboard cool rocket ship for a few months — until it was ‘loved’ beyond repair.

That’s the thing about a cardboard box. It’s a not-a-box. IT CAN BE ANYTHING — including a fantastic learning tool. Just like the rabbit tells us in Antoinette Ports’ book Not a Box, it’s NOT a box. It’s whatever you want it to be. All you need is a little imagination.

These three Camelot Learning cardboard box ‘edventures’ created by our friends at Open Door Care are perfect for teaching your kids about reusing and recycling, while stretching those imagination muscles. Plus, they’ll put the ART in science fun!

Cardboard Box Painting

Sure, you can paint ON cardboard, but have you ever thought about painting WITH cardboard? Create paintbrushes by cutting them out of flat pieces of cardboard. Brushes with different patterns at the bottom will create different textures and prints while painting.

Cardboard Tower Test

Use cardboard boxes and recycled materials that would otherwise end up in the trash and go to landfills to build a tower. Plan the tower first with a drawing. Build it so that is can hold something with weight on the top, for example a golf ball or a tennis ball. Think about using acardboard base, aluminum cans, newspaper, plastic bottles, yogurt cups, glue, string, tape, etc. Put your tower through a wind test (use a fan to blow air at it for 30 seconds) or an earthquake test (shake it for 30 seconds!). You may want to determine a specific height of the tower for older children. Younger children may want to make a smaller tower or put less weight on the top. We put ours to the toddler test. It’s amazing what clear packing tape can withstand!

Cardboard Box Challenge

What can you create out of a cardboard box? Make a garage for cars, a car for a drive in movie, douses and furniture for dolls, a grocery store, a box city… the possibilities are endless. What will your child come up with? You can see that we turned our tower into a city in the sky! Or castle. Or space station. Depending on the little characters that inhabited it, the definition of our “not-a-box” became pretty fluid!

ABOUT OUR SPONSOR

Camelot Learning at Open Door Care

Kids learn through experience and choice at Open Door Care, with Camelot Learning activities designed to accelerate student achievement through hands-on learning. This summer, one of Open Door Care’s weekly Camelot Learning themes is Caring for the Earth. During this theme, children take a look at conservation of the Earth’s natural resources with the goal of demonstrating a sense of responsibility for caring for the earth. Water, air and waste pollutants and methods of prevention are explored. Additionally, children explore what it means to reuse, recycle and reduce by using items which are typically thrown away to create, design, construct and play. The Camelot Learning Program at Open Door makes learning fun. It features cross-curricular learning filled with STEM activities. Open Door Care offers Camelot Learning to every child every day!

Open Door Care was founded over 30 years ago to support today’s family by offering quality before and after school childcare that is an extension of home and school. Open Door’s core values are a SNAP! SAFE…NURTURING…ACADEMIC…PROFESSIONAL.

About the Authorheather

Heather is editor-in-chief of (cool) progeny. When not scouting the best in everything kid and family, you'll probably find her running The Weisse Group or adventuring around town with her daughter (the Bug), her son (the Little Lion Man), her daughter BabyM, and husband Patrick. Can be won over with a good glass of wine or something homemade. Addicted to Pinterest. A two-cups-of-coffee-a-day kinda gal. Only pretends to know what she's doing with her SLR, even though she's got a fantastic lens on it.Thankful it does most of the work for her. Navigating the world of special needs parenting. Trying to pay it forward one day at a time. #littlelionchallenge